The present invention relates to a hinge device for implementing a hinged coupling. Furthermore, it relates to a portable electronic device which includes such a hinge device.
In recent years, along with the development of electronic technique, various sorts of portable electronic devices have come into widespread use, such as portable telephones, portable computers (including both ones which are equipped with a wireless communication function and ones which are not), electronic notebooks, electronic games machines and the like.
With these portable electronic devices, sometimes it is performed to provide a flip lid which is free to open and close to the portable electronic device. For example, with a portable telephone which is a typical example of such a portable electronic device, there are known both a flip lid type in which a flip lid is fitted to the main body of the portable telephone so that it is free to open and close, and an integral type which has no flip lid. Nowadays the integral type is becoming the mainstream one, from the point of view of weight reduction and convenience.
However there is a demand for increase of the compatibility of both types, due to the merits of the flip lid type in terms of prevention of erroneous switch actuation, increased compactness, diversity of design, and the like.
With the type of portable electronic device which is equipped with the above described kind of flip lid, there is a demand to perform opening and closing of the flip lid easily by one-touch operation.
When a prior art hinge device has been applied for connecting the flip lid to the main body of the portable telephone, it has been necessary to provide a lock mechanism for the flip lid and a drive mechanism such as a button or the like for releasing this lock, separately from the hinge device. Due to this, the problems arise that the number of parts becomes large, it is necessary to provide space for them, etc.
The present invention has been conceived in the light of the above circumstances, and its objective is to provide a hinge device which contributes to simplification and compactness of the structure of a portable electronic device by making it unnecessary to provide the device with a separate mechanism for opening and closing its locking.
Furthermore, an objective of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device to which this type of hinge device is applied.
The hinge device according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a hinge element which is made up from an axis body and a hinge main body and which is constructed so that the axis body possesses a predetermined torque characteristic around a rotational axis with respect to the hinge main body; a lock mechanism which functions so as to lock rotational movement of the axis body around the rotational axis; and a lock release mechanism for releasing locking by the lock mechanism.
In the hinge device according to a second aspect of the present invention, the hinge main body is assembled to a first assembly member and the axis body is assembled to a second assembly member, the torque characteristic, when the rotation of the axis body is locked by the lock mechanism, possesses a torque characteristic such as to bias the first and second assembly members in the direction to mutually contact one another.
In the hinge device according to a third aspect of the present invention, the hinge main body is assembled to a first assembly member and the axis body is assembled to a second assembly member, the torque characteristic, at the moment that the locking by the lock mechanism has been released by the lock release mechanism, possesses a torque characteristic such as to rotate the first and second assembly members in the direction to mutually separate from one another.
In the hinge device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the lock mechanism comprises a first lock member which is provided on the side of the axis body so as to be unable to move rotationally relative to the axis body, and a second lock member which is provided on the side of the hinge main body so as to be unable to move rotationally relative to the hinge main body; the lock function by the lock mechanism is provided by concave and convex engagement of these first and second lock members; and the lock release mechanism is a mechanism which can release the concave and convex engagement.
In the hinge device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the first lock member comprises a stopper portion; the second lock member comprises an engagement body which can engage with respect to the stopper portion, and which is biased in the direction towards the first lock member by a biasing means; the lock function by the lock mechanism is provided by the engagement body engaging into the stopper portion; and the lock release mechanism is constituted by a push button which is provided on the side of the axis body and which comprises a projection which can be inserted into the stopper portion, and, by the projection being inserted into the stopper portion, the engagement body is pushed in against the resistance of the biasing force due to the biasing means, and thereby the lock is released.
In the hinge device according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the surface of the engagement body which is pushed in by the projection is formed as a sloping surface, and thereby the pushing in force of the projection is converted into a shift force in the sideways direction of the projection and also into a rotational force of the push button.
In the hinge device according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the lock mechanism comprises a first lock member which is provided on the side of the axis body so as to be unable to move rotationally relative to the axis body, and a second lock member which is provided on the side of the hinge main body so as to be unable to move rotationally relative to the hinge main body; the lock function by the lock mechanism is provided by concave and convex engagement of the axis body and the second lock member; and the lock release mechanism is a mechanism which can release the concave and convex engagement.
In the hinge device according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the second lock member comprises an axis portion which passes through the axis body extending along its axis, and which is biased so as to contact against the axis body by a biasing means; and the lock release mechanism is constituted by a push button which is linked to the axis portion of the second lock member, and, by the push button being pushed in, the second lock member is separated from the axis body against the resistance of the biasing force due to the biasing means, and thereby the lock is released.
In the hinge device according to a ninth aspect of the present invention, upon the concave and convex engagement surfaces of the axis body and the second lock member, there are provided sloping portions which guide an engagement convex portion into an engagement concave portion.
A portable electronic device according to a tenth aspect of the present invention comprises a portable electronic device main body and a flip lid which is linked to the portable electronic device main body so as to be able to open and shut with respect thereto, at at least one of both end portions in the widthwise direction of a linking region of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, linking of the portable electronic device main body and the flip lid is performed via a hinge device according to the preceding aspects of the present invention.
The portable electronic device according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention comprises a portable electronic device main body and a flip lid which is linked to the portable electronic device main body so as to be able to open and shut with respect thereto, at at least one of both end portions in the widthwise direction of a linking region of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, linking of the portable electronic device main body and the flip lid is performed via a hinge device according to the second aspect; in the closed state of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, locking is performed by the lock mechanism; and, based upon the torque characteristic of the hinge element, the flip lid, in the closed state of the flip lid, is biased in the further closing direction with respect to the portable electronic device main body.
The portable electronic device according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention comprises a portable electronic device main body and a flip lid which is linked to the portable electronic device main body so as to be able to open and shut with respect thereto, at at least one of both end portions in the widthwise direction of a linking region of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, linking of the portable electronic device main body and the flip lid is performed via a hinge device according to the third aspect; in the closed state of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, locking is performed by the lock mechanism; and, based upon the torque characteristic of the hinge element, the flip lid, at the instant when the locking by the lock mechanism is released, is opened away from the portable electronic device main body.
According to the first aspect, by the hinge device including the lock mechanism and the lock release mechanism in addition to the hinge element, it is not necessary to provide any separate lock mechanism or lock release mechanism for opening and closing on the side of a device to which this hinge device is applied, and simplification and reduction of space of the device are attained.
According to the second aspect, if the hinge main body is assembled to the first assembly member (for example, a portable electronic device main body) and moreover the axis body is assembled to the second assembly member (for example, the flip lid), then, by the torque characteristic having a torque characteristic, when locking is being performed by the lock mechanism (for example, the closed state of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body), such as to bias the first and second assembly members in the direction to mutually contact one another, the first and second assembly member do not uselessly rattle together (it is possible to bias them in the closing direction, and there is no rattling ?? in the opening direction).
According to the third aspect, if the hinge main body is assembled to the first assembly member (for example, a portable electronic device main body) and moreover the axis body is assembled to the second assembly member (for example, the flip lid), then, by the torque characteristic having a torque characteristic, at the moment that the locking by the lock mechanism has been released by the lock release mechanism, such as to rotate the first and second assembly members in the direction to mutually separate them from one another, thereby the opening action of the first and second assembly members is performed with a so-called one-touch action by driving the lock release mechanism (the opening action of the flip lid from the portable electronic device main body is performed with a one-touch action).
According to the fourth aspect, the lock function is simply provided by implementing the lock function of the lock mechanism by concave and convex engagement of the first and the second lock members.
According to the fifth aspect, by biasing the second lock member by the biasing means, the engagement of the engagement body with respect to the stopper portion of the first lock member is assisted, and moreover maintenance of the engaged state is implemented. The lock is released by the projection of the push button which provides the lock release function being inserted into the stopper portion, and by the engagement body being pushed in against the resistance of the biasing force of the biasing means.
According to the sixth aspect, by forming the surface upon the engagement body which is pushed in by the projection as a sloping surface, thereby the pushing in force of the projection is converted into a shift force in the sideways direction of the projection and also is converted into a rotational force of the push button. When the hinge main body is assembled to the first assembly member and the axis body is assembled to the second assembly member, at the time of lock release, this rotational force can be taken advantage of for mutually separating the first and the second assembly members from one another, and it assists the opening operation of the first and the second assembly members (in the case of a flip lid and a portable electronic device, it is taken advantage of as flip lid opening up force, and it assists the opening operation).
According to the seventh aspect, the lock function is even more simply provided by implementing the lock function of the lock mechanism by concave and convex engagement of the axis body and the second lock member.
According to the eighth aspect, by biasing the second lock member by the biasing means, the concave and convex engagement with the axis body is assisted, and moreover maintenance of the concave and convex engagement state is implemented. Furthermore, since the push button which provides the lock release function is linked to the axis portion of the second lock member which is passed through the axis body, when the push button is pressed, the second lock member is separated from the axis body against the resistance of the biasing force of the biasing means, and the lock is released.
According to the ninth aspect, when the engagement convex portion approaches relatively to the concave engagement portion and come upon a sloping portion of the concave engagement portion, the convex engagement portion is guided along the sloping portion of the concave engagement portion into the concave engagement portion. Accordingly, the operation during concave and convex engagement becomes smooth.
According to the tenth aspect, by linking the portable electronic device main body and the flip lid via the above described type of hinge device, it is not necessary to provide any separate lock mechanism or lock release mechanism for opening and closing to the portable electronic device main body or to the flip lid, and simplification and reduction of space of the portable electronic device are attained.
According to the eleventh aspect, along with linking the portable electronic device main body and the flip lid via a hinge device according to the second aspect, by locking with the lock mechanism in the closed state of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, in the closed state, the flip lid is biased in the further closing direction with respect to the portable electronic device main body based upon the torque characteristic of the hinge element. Due to this, rattling of the flip lid in the opening direction is prevented.
According to the twelfth aspect, along with linking the portable electronic device main body and the flip lid via a hinge device according to the third aspect, by locking with the lock mechanism in the closed state of the flip lid with respect to the portable electronic device main body, at the instant that the locking is released, the flip lid opens up away from the portable electronic device main body based upon the torque characteristic of the hinge element. In other words, the opening operation of the flip lid from the portable electronic device main body is performed by so-called one-touch lock release operation.